


Shaken Up

by Krasimer



Series: Khdo Doo Zrxqgv dqg Qhyhu Edfn Grzq [8]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, Family, Family Secrets, Gen, Grunkle Stan Needs A Hug, Grunkle4Grandpa, Minor Carla McCorkle/Grunkle Stan | Stanley "Stanford" Pines, Sad Grunkle Stan, Smart Grunkle Stan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-12
Updated: 2016-07-12
Packaged: 2018-07-23 12:34:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7463520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krasimer/pseuds/Krasimer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which children arrive, a brother returns, and a letter is received.</p><p>Stanley Pines is not prepared for the revelations that follow each of these events.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shaken Up

He has a week.

In a week, there are going to be two tiny strangers in his care for the summer and he has no idea what to say to them. Everything has to be put into safer areas, kids get their hands into things, right?

Stan frowns as he shifts a box on his hip, heading downstairs, towards the hidden elevator. Soos can't help him, can't know. If he leaves any of this stuff lying out, the kids might get into it and...

He can't lose any more family, especially not to the world his brother had become part of.

The Mystery Shack is closed and everything is quiet in the house. There're a few faint strains of sound from the television, but it's otherwise dead-quiet. This is the millionth box he's shifted, it feels like, and his spine is screaming at him to take a break. It aches and pains him, his shoulder protesting like the burn is fresh again, but there's only a week to prepare and only one day the Shack is closed. 

They're Shermie's grandkids, he was told. His little brother's son and his wife had contacted him and asked to send the kids for the summer. 

(The feeling of hollowness in his chest had tightened up at the thought of family coming to see him.)

The box slipped in his hands as he imagined a family gathering for just a moment. Shermie, him, Ford, hell, even Ma and Pop. Well, maybe just Ma, her slightly crooked smile and the feeling of belonging that has not been for him in decades. 

He readjusts his grip.

They're just kids.

They don't mean anything.

He has a week.

 

~

 

Around the time Dipper messes around with zombies and incantations, Stan realizes what a load of shit that is.

The kids, they mean almost everything. Mabel is a brilliant little bright spot and Dipper is a hardened edge to her softness. Sure, he's soft in his own ways, but he's the realist and she's the optimist. Dipper reminds him of himself, even with the intelligence that he has in common with his great-uncle-gone-missing. Dipper is resilient, tough in a way that Stan learned to be a long time ago.

Mabel is Ford.

She creates, she explores, she finds things out. She tries a thousand times to find the way it works, and if that doesn't make her happy she finds a new way. She uses what she has to find a way around the problem.

It's like someone took Ford's wits and gave them Stan's strengths. A stronger version of a man long since lost. Their emotional states are the same and it hits him like a punch to the gut when he sees her give him the same pleading look he remembers Ford giving him. Back then it had been 'Please just sit down and talk to me, I'm scared,". With Mabel, it's 'I want you to do something with me, Grunkle Stan!". 

Dipper makes no pleas for himself. Much like Stan as a teenager, he only defends his twin, only speaks up on her behalf.

It just about breaks his heart.

With a new resolve and an understanding brought about by a blacklight, he refocuses on the portal. These kids deserve the real Stanford Pines, the man who was never a disappointment to the family.

They don't need him.

 

~

 

Ford is better than him, worth more.

He had this lesson drilled in a long time ago, he doesn't need to learn it again. The portal activates and brings Ford home and the kids...

The kids don't want anything to do with him anymore.

"Hey Mister Pines, gotcha mail for you," Soos smiles at him as he hands it over, his shoulders relaxed and his face happy. At least his sort-of-son hasn't abandoned him. The poor kid's mom had gotten sick when he was little and his dad had run off, the jerk that he was. 

"Thanks, Soos," Stan flipped through it, settling down into his armchair and switching the television on. "Bill, bill, ad...Wait, what?"

It was a letter. 

The address was written plainly on the front, neat curves of lettering that stated where it was supposed to go. In the top left was the name Thomas Pines and an address for somewhere in California. With a small bit of hesitance, he slid his finger under the flap, pulling the envelope open.

 _"Dear Uncle Stanford,"_ it began, _"You and I have never talked in person, and the last time we talked on the phone I was nine. You were talking to my father and he managed to get you to say goodnight to me. I know this is a little strange, probably sort of shocking, to receive a letter from someone you've never really met. I just wanted to ask you about your twin, Stanley. You see, when I asked dad about you guys, he hesitated before he told me some things._

_Well, you see, when I was four, almost five, he adopted me. He didn't tell me until I asked, didn't ever bring up anything about it even. Turns out that I'm not actually his blood-related kid. It turns out, well...It turns out that I'm his nephew."_

"...What." Stan adjusted in his seat, sitting up a bit. 

_"My birth mother was a woman named Carla McCorkle, and I just...I suppose I wanted to ask you if you knew anything about her. She dropped me off with my grandparents just after I was born, when dad was about thirteen. No one has been able to track her down, so I wanted to reach out and see if you remembered anything interesting about her. I know your brother is- Well, I guess you know too. There were a couple of articles in the newspapers about him when I went looking, so that's a...It feels almost morbid to write 'Dead End' right there._

_So I turn to you, Uncle Stanford. If there is anything you could tell me, maybe even photos, I'd love to see them. My birth parents have been a point of curiosity ever since I found out about them._

_Grandma Pines extends her love, says something about not having talked to you for a long time. The kids don't know, by the way, so I'd appreciate you keeping this letter from them._

_Love and regards,_

_Thomas Pines."_

Stan sat there for a long time, re-reading the letter again and again until his vision blurred. When damp spots appeared on the paper, he started, tucking it back into its envelope and hurrying to put that in a pocket inside his jacket.

"Grunkle Stan?" 

It was Dipper's voice and he looked up, ignoring the random drama on the tv as he did. "Hey kid, what's happening?"

"Well, Mabel and I were going to go hang out in town for a bit with Wendy, a-and we just wanted to make sure you knew where we were. Grunkle Ford is busy with stuff, so-" he cleared his throat, his voice cracking slightly. "Well, we just wanted to make sure someone knew."

"Got it, go have fun, create some scenes and bring in some tourists," Stan waved him off as casually as he could, "Don't light anything on fire."

"I promise NOTHING," Mabel said from over her brother's shoulder.

He waited until he heard the door click closed.

"Holy shit," Stan hissed into the empty house, staring blankly at the television screen.

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope people like this series still. Anyway, have some more bittersweet/sad.


End file.
